


Holly Bells and Garland

by R_Strailo (Strailo)



Series: Holiday Collections [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Christmas Holiday Collection 2017, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, M/M, No Smut, Talk of mental illness, male/male fluff, not explicit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-10 19:49:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strailo/pseuds/R_Strailo
Summary: The 2017 Christmas Story Collection by S.L. Lewis.Every year Christmas comes to all. Sometimes it's a family learning how to act as a whole after a past that pulled them apart.Sometimes it's find someone new to spend Christmas with.Sometimes it's spending time with your loved one while things are falling apart.Christmas is a time of coming together and finding that little bit of happiness that everyone should have.





	1. Snowfalls, Fires, and Family 1

**Author's Note:**

> This first story has around 9 chapters, but it's still a short story.
> 
> Snowfalls, Fires, and Family: They hadn't expected to be drawn together and for the patchwork band-aids on their wounds from their childhood to be ripped off and the truth of their past to come out.
> 
> They didn't know that it was just what they needed.

Staring up at the house that he had spent a good part of his younger childhood before his family scattered, Tristian pursed his lips. He knew that he was the first one to arrive being the one to own the house since their mother had passed, at least outside of his aunt. Their father hadn't wanted it and hadn't put up a fight beyond getting a few things that had been shoved into the basement.

He could still remember the fights that had happened beyond the front doors of the large Georgian Colonial house before their father had left. He could remember the downwards spiral that their mother had gone until he was nearly seven years old. The pretty two-story front with white trim around the windows and doors, and pillars lining the front hid some dark history.

Shaking his head, he dug around in a pocket, hunting for keys. "When did I find a gumball?" he asked himself, blinking a few times at the round pink ball that he had pulled out of the pocket. Shaking his head, he shoved it back into another pocket, knowing that he'd probably forget about it until he was doing wash and checked the pockets for change. Finding the ring of keys that his aunt had given him at the will reading nearly a month ago, he walked up the path, up the stairs and between the pillars, to the door.

Finding the key, he unlocked the brand new, heavy duty lock and pushed it open. Stepping inside, shifting his duffel bag on his shoulder, his eyes flicked around the hallway, noting that it had changed since the day he had walked out of the house to go on to a new life. Where once it had been rich cream-colored wallpaper, it had been stripped and replaced with a soft coral colored paint.

Looking down at the side table that spanned about three feet of the wall, long but thin, he noticed that it had been stripped, sanded down and varnished in the last year at least. "Aunt Tabby did tell me that mom had started to restore furniture as a money paying hobby," he mused, rubbing his fingers over the table.

Shaking his head, he hung the keys on the hooks that hung over the table and slung his duffel bag onto the floor. He would take care of it later, wanting to make sure that everything was in working condition as his aunt had promised him.

Walking down the short entry way, he turned right and walked into the formal living room, flipping on the lights.

He blinked in surprise at the fact that it had been stripped of the furniture that he could remember being there and that the floors were fake instead of the dinged up wood that had been down. "Must have been where she did the restoration work inside," he mused, heading for the rather large dining room that flowed into the redone kitchen. "She must have been a busy little bee after she lost us. So much changed after she got out and she wanted to show it?"

His lips thinned as his thoughts tried to go down the dark path that they were begging to take. He shook his head and flipped on the lights in the kitchen. A note sat on the bar countertop, most likely from his aunt Tabby.

Picking it up, he was proven right.

Tristian,

The house has been cleaned top to bottom like you asked me to get done. Everything has been cleaned, appraised and is just waiting for your decision on what you want to do with the house. Maria was talking about renting it out and retiring to the cottage that was left to your sister Karla before she passed.

Karla has already decided that once she can get away with it, she's selling the cottage and putting the money down to get a new condo for herself. Her current one has been fixed up and she has a buyer, but she wants to move into a better building. Something to do with an ex and, her fiancé and her wanting a new condo with better security..

Anna has decided to just take her share of the liquidated estate, which included all the furniture that your mother had refurbished and was selling, her retirement accounts and the various stocks that she had, and go about her life. She will be at the house for Christmas but do not expect her to drink.

Her words, not mine. I'm guessing she still remembers the last time the two of you were in close quarters with alcohol.

Marco and Brian both are reluctant to come but would like the money to put to their own schooling, so they will also be there.

"None of this surprises me really," he said to the letter, leaning against the bar.

All the lawyer and myself need to know is what you're going to do with the house.

As I said, the house was cleaned from top to bottom. The mattresses are new. Maria had them replaced in the last couple of months to prepare for Christmas, and the sheets are also new.

I've gone through the house and packed away the pictures and various other Knick knacks that will most likely trigger a response for everyone, so you can go through them later. They're all in the basement or attic for the moment.

Yes, I used totes. Don't give me that look. I can still wash your mouth out with soap.

Tristian snorted and shook his head. "Aunt Tabby, always threatening with the damn soap."

You have about two years to really decide what you want before the held money for the various taxes start to run out. So, take your time, kiddo, but don't put it off. I suggest at the very least renting it out.

It would be a good source of income for you when you go back to school for your last couple of years.

I'll see you tomorrow to help set up the house for your sisters and brothers. And to drop off the rental car that you wanted. If you need me, just give me a call. The electricity and such is all good until February so don't worry about having to pay for that this month.

"Thank God for Aunt Tabby," he said, folding the letter in half. Turning to the fridge and opening it, he found that she had been nice enough to drop off butter, mayonnaise, various deli meats and cheese, and some fruits.

He did a check of the cabinets and found bread, oatmeal, raisins and various other little things that he needed for his diet. One that he had kept since he was a younger ever since he learned that he was bordering on pre-diabetes. She had made sure that if it came down to it, he would be covered for a couple of days at the least. Being snowed in was a very real possibility with where the house sat.

Making a quick sandwich for himself out of turkey, swiss, some mayo and a bit of mustard, he put it on a paper plate on a whicker plate holder, added some chips to the side, and grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge. Cleaning up after his preparations, he left the kitchen, turning off the lights and checking outside, noting that the sky was heavily overcast.

"Need to check out the wood situation," he mused. "No need not to do that right now though. Saw some wood in the living room. Should be good for tonight if needed." Grabbing his duffel bag from the front hall, careful of his plate, he swung it up onto one shoulder and headed up the stairs with a huff. He had a lot to do, and rather very little time to do it.

But first he wanted to claim his own bedroom before his siblings would start to arrive the next day. He figured they'd start to show up kind of late in the afternoon but still.

When they were growing up, there was only three usable bedrooms for them all. Anna and Karla had shared a bedroom while Tristian, being the youngest, had his own, with Marko and Brian sharing the third. Compared to his sibling's rooms, his own had been kind of small. A fourth bedroom had been the guest bedroom while the fifth had been their parent's bedroom.

There were two bathrooms that guests and the siblings had shared, a third being their parents.

Considering each room as he looked into them, he decided that since he owned the house, he was going to claim the main bedroom for the simple fact that he didn't want to deal with his siblings beyond what he had to. And that included sharing a bathroom.

Their relationships had been far from normal for a very long time. Even before they were taken away from their parents and scattered amongst other family members.

Pushing open the pocket door to the master suite, he stood in the doorway, seeing that there was nothing to remember his mother, father, or stepfather anywhere in the room.

Through the second doorway, he saw that the bed was a simple platform bed, one that his aunt would have bought for staging a house or for herself. It had matching dresser, vanity, and side tables. In the small meeting area that made up the front half of the halved room, there was a cushy loveseat with two chairs that fit in the space just right. A small reading nook was just off the side, making him hum.

He had been told when he had asked his aunt that Karla's, Marco's and Brian's father had used it as his small personal office. His and Anna's father had used it to keep his personal stash of first edition books away from kids.

None of them were allowed in the room and if they did...

Shaking his head, he moved further into the room and dropped his duffel bag inside of the second door before he sat in the window seat. Reaching up, he shoved the curtains aside. He found himself looking out over the backyard, noting all the changes that it had gone through during the time that he had been gone.

Gone were the flowers and pretty things that his father had preferred, instead replaced by a vegetable garden that was sleeping except for the winter vegetables that most likely needed to be harvested. He could see several boxes that he had a feeling were herb boxes from his position, and wondered where all the food from their mother had gone off to. She most likely had a full refrigerator and freezer when she had passed.

His aunt hadn't said but he supposed he could ask her in the morning.

Shaking his head, he ate his food and moved to start opening the curtains of the house and put his clothes away in the dresser.


	2. Snowfalls, Fires, and Family 2

Going to bed early, he found himself waking up woke up that morning with a low groan, staggering out of bed and into the bathroom. Turning on the light, he squinted at the low lighting. Turning on the shower, he wondered when his mother had gotten into jewel tones for anything, remembering her as a purely pastel lover, before stepping under the heated fall of water.

It didn't take him very long to wake up and finish showering, drying and dressing quickly after, rubbing at his head some more with a smaller towel as he checked his phone in the bedroom. He smiled at the early morning text messages from his neighbor's son about how his cat refused to move from my fucking lap. I have to pee, man! How do you deal with this?

He snickered and told the other to just pick up Marshmallow and move his furry butt but expect him to sit at his feet. Usually in his underwear depending on how he was going to the bathroom. The one eyed old cat was an odd one but loving to those he liked. And it seemed as if he liked Mrs. Mary's son quite a bit.

It was kind of cute to him.

Shaking his head, he smiled at the new picture of his cat acting like a furry slipper with the caption of 'he wouldn't stop meowing at the door. Don't think he likes being alone'. He had a feeling that his cat had started the moment the front door had been closed and convinced his neighbor's son to stay. Sending back that Marshmallow really didn't like being alone, he told him to go ahead and raid the fridge if he had to eat.

Tucking his phone into the front pocket of his jeans, he brushed out his hair, grabbed his jacket, wallet and shoes from where he had tossed them the night before, and headed downstairs.

He had just started to eat a bowl of oatmeal when his aunt walked in. With salt and pepper hair, green eyes that were more yellow than green, she was a good-looking woman in her early fifties. She was still fit and loved yoga, and fully expected to live until her nineties at the least if cancer didn't pop up in her body somewhere. With their genetic history, it was possible for her.

"Hey, Aunt Tabby," Tristian greeted after swallowing his mouthful of raisins and oatmeal. Tabby chuckled and pressed a kiss to his cheek with an amused look on her face.

"Hey there, brat," she greeted in return. Moving around him to the water kettle that Tristian had found and washed out, she filled it with water. Bypassing the coffee that he had made, she turned on the kettle, pulled out a tea bag and dropped it down into a cup, watching as the water heated. "Are you ready to head out to get food? Everyone has pitched in for food and stuff. Including the Christmas dinner," she said.

Tristian sighed into his coffee cup but put it down with a nod. "Yeah, I'm ready to go shopping. Did you make up a list?" he asked.

Tabby nodded. "Yeah. I got to warn ya, your siblings asked for certain things to be added to the list, but they made sure that it was paid for."

"Good. Because I am not paying for their shit. I know the brand of coffee that Brian drinks and he's lucky that we can get any of that in town with how expensive it is," he said, shaking his head and taking the list. Pulling out his phone, he soon had the ads for various stores pulled up and an attack plan set down on paper.

He was the youngest of his siblings and had long ago learned to live on very little money. Especially since their father hadn't been all that willing to pay child support and tried to get out of it when he had left their mother and them.

With his plans for the shopping in hand, he took the keys from his aunt, the two leaving the house after cleaning up after themselves. She promised that she had already told his siblings where the extra key was in the key toad just in case they arrived while they were still gone, and climbed up into the rather large truck. As she kicked off the snow from her boots on the runner, he opened the driver's side door.

"I always keep forgetting that the only way to get around in this place is in a truck or jeep built for snow," he drawled, shoving his seat back after knocking the snow off his feet.

He hadn't even noticed it had been snowing over the night and the clouds in the sky were threatening more of the white stuff.

Tabby chuckled as she settled in, pulling her seat belt on. "I promise ya, there's a stock of candles, lanterns and batteries but we should get more. I didn't have time to check all of them so I'm not sure if all of them work," she said. Tristian hummed and pulled around in the driveway that would lead them to the main road.

"And the wood supply?" he asked. "I was thinking about that last night."

Tabby snorted. "Well stocked. Your mother had it all set up that she had a cord of wood every couple of months during the offseason delivered to her place to dry and get put into storage. If you look out back, there's a storage shed that's not far from the backdoor that holds all the wood. Kind of large but it's nearly fully of wood for the season. She was prepared."

Tristian whistled as he drove out onto the main road, turning to the town center. "I take it she started doing that after she got out...?" he asked, trailing off, not wanting to say what he wanted.

Tabby hummed. "Yeah. She decided she needed to control her life to keep sane, and the hospital had given that to her during her time there. She just carried that over into her new life after she got out," she told him. The two fell into silence as Tristian drove carefully through freshly plowed streets. Tabby turned on the radio and found a station that was playing older Christmas songs. 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' came over the radio, making him groan in pain at the song but allowing it to play.

Just as 'Jingle Bell Rock' ended, six songs later, he pulled up to one of the three stores that he called 'stockpile central', and parked. Looking at it, he shook his head. "Come on, let's get this part done," he grunted, hopping out, Tabby following after him with a smirk.

They took close to two hours in the store, and another three getting through the grocery stores that they were hitting for the day. They bought enough ham and turkey to feed all of them during Christmas Eve and Christmas day, along with stuffing, bread, and various other dish makings.

Luckily for them, Brian, Anna and Tristian could all cook. Brian was going to college for a culinary degree while Tristian just liked to cook and had learned from his aunt. Anna could bake but she wasn't allowed to cook anything unless it was pastries. Karla and Marco had the basics down, but after the one time that they had all gathered together for dinner three years ago and they had turned the turkey into a leather, they had decided not to cook feasts ever again.

Which worked well for the rest of them and was going to work for them this last Christmas.

With everything bought and snow starting to fall again, the two shoved some of the bags that held cardboard boxes or fresh fruits and veggies into the back of the truck cab instead of the truck bed. It took him close to forty-five minutes to get back to the house with the amount of snow making the streets slick, finding a jeep parked in front of it and the door opened as a redheaded woman walked out.

Sighing at the sight of his one full blooded sister, Tristian parked in the driveway and turned the truck off. He and Anna had had a goodish relationship living with their parents and had kept it over the years through letters and now e-mails, Facebook messages, and the occasional Tumblr rant. As long as they didn't spend more than a few days together, they were good.

To see her there, about three hours early, told him that she probably had to get away from her ex again. He idly wondered what it was about his sisters and having desperate ex's stalking them.

e


	3. Snowfall, Fires and Family 3

"Aunt Tabby, can you check on her while I start unloading the stuff?" he asked. Tabby nodded and opened the door, sliding out of the truck cab to walk up to Anna as she walked down the path to her jeep. The two women greeted each other with smiles and hugs before Tabby moved to help her with the last of her luggage, a smallish roller bag that most likely held toiletries, and a backpack that looked stuffed.

Opening the back of the truck cab, he grabbed several of the bags and followed the women into the house, Anna putting her suitcases out of the way in the living room. "Hey there, Anna," he called out as he passed, heading for the kitchen to drop off the load.

Anna smiled as she followed him when he left the house to get the next round of bags. "Wow did you guys go hog wild on the groceries," she teased, shaking her head. Tristian snorted and handed her several bags with a smile.

"Here, carry these into the kitchen yeah?" he asked, tweaking her nose before turning back to grab the last of the bags in the cab. Wrinkling her still cold numb nose, she huffed, turned around carefully on the icy sidewalk and headed back in.

"Please tell me that we're salting the driveway and walkway today," she said to Tabby as she dropped off the load in her arms.

Tabby snickered as she separated out the bags into 'cold stuff' and 'shelf stuff'. "Yes. We had to buy a couple of new bags of the stuff. There wasn't any here."

"Mom would have kept it up in the attic," she admitted, biting at her bottom lip. "After Richard ditched out on us, she moved it up there instead of keeping it in the cellar. She hated the cellar."

"The salt? Yeah, we know," Tristian said, walking in and putting the bags down. "Aunt Tabby here checked on it before I got here yesterday. She was prepping to buy some then...well she went into the hospital with a cough and never came out again," he hummed, shaking his head. "Come on. There's more bags. Do you know when the rest of the siblings will be here?" he asked.

Anna hummed and pulled out her phone, checking the time. "I have to head out in about twenty to go pick up Markus from the airport," she said. "I told him that since I was in town that we'd share my jeep, so he could save a few hundred on renting a truck. Poor guy just changed jobs after all so he's kind of dealing with that bullshit."

"That sounds good. Karla and Brian are due in tomorrow. Brian's fiancé is heading to her parents for Christmas. He's heading out that way a couple days after Christmas though," he warned.

Anna hummed, not saying a thing, and headed back out to the truck, leaving Tristian and Tabby to share a knowing look at her reaction. She wasn't particularly fond of Karla, their eldest sibling having taken after their father, her step-father, in a lot of her attitude when it came to her siblings. At least before they had been spread out amongst family.

Shaking his head, Tristian followed her and grabbed the bags of salt, carrying them in and laying them in what used to be the formal living room. He would salt the ground while Anna was picking up Brian. He then went for the turkey's and ham's while Anna grabbed the lighter bags, favoring one shoulder with how much she carried.

Tabby told Tristian that she had some damage to the muscles in her senior year of high school.

Between the two of them, they got all of the bags in, Anna choosing to take her old room that had been redone with soft yellow paint and dark gold trim, a queen-sized platform bed, and matching red wood furniture. It was looking as if Karla and Brian would be able to have their own rooms since Tristian was sleeping in the master bedroom.

"So, you got any idea on what you're doing with this place?" Anna asked as she made fresh coffee for the all of them.

Tristian grunted, shaking his head as he put the turkeys onto large towels that were used for such things in the secondary refrigerator. "Not an idea." He put the hams in with the turkeys and closed the door, knowing that he would submerge the turkey's the next day to defrost over a couple of days. "I have a few options but I'm not sure what I want to do with it."

Anna pursed her lips thoughtfully.. "Karla is selling off the cottage. Since she's selling it off, she can't get the part of the estate that was put aside for the upkeep of it," she said, finding the cleaned mugs and adding one for herself.

"I read the same will you guys did," Tristian stated. Their mother had been very clear in how things would be divided up and had the house, cottage and everything sellable praised once a year. She kept everything up to date and was careful with her money, working hard even though she had no real need to. She had a lot of money from her parents who had passed many years ago and from her past jobs.

Which meant that her estate was sizeable thus the various rules that had come with inheriting anything. Tristian had gotten the house, and if he decided to keep the house, would get access to the account that was built for the upkeep of the taxes on the house to add as he needed to. Karla had gotten the vacation cottage that their mother's first husband had left her after his death.

She had sold the vacation house she had received in the settlement with her second husband after he had wiped out their joint accounts. Luckily, she had always been smart, despite not getting out of the marriage with him sooner, and had most of her personal and inherited money protected from him so they hadn't been hurt very much.

She had kept the house though, having bought it with her first husband, and had apparently over the years turned it into something more. Leaving it to Tristian though had been a surprise to all, not that his siblings wanted it. They didn't want to deal with the laws that went with owning a house on land.

He had been six when they had been taken away, but his siblings had all been seven, nine, ten and eleven, and had more memories of the house than he had. Especially since Tabby had often taken him out of the house whenever she could while his siblings had been in school.

Shaking his head, he took the cup of coffee, his sister giving him a knowing look before she shrugged. "Yeah, alright. I can see why you're having to think about what you want to do," she said, leaning against the counter. "So, what? We have the Christmas celebration to fulfill the will's requests and you decide if you want to keep the house or sell it off before two years are up?" she asked.

Tristian looked at her and she pointed to the note. "Yeah, pretty much. I have a few options. I really don't want to live here again if I can help it. I have a good life in Seattle. I'm happy there. Here...not so much. I would be looked at for my tastes in humans. For my career choice as a nurse instead of a doctor. For all that it's pretty and lovely and they all smile, this town is pretty for the tourists. Not so much for anyone who doesn't conform to what they want."

Anna snorted at him and nodded, checking her phone again. "Alright, I'm off to pick up Markus from his plane. I'm going to guess that he's on time since he hasn't sent me a text or e-mail about being late," she drawled, rinsing out her cup. "Want me to pick up some Chinese on the way back in?" she asked. Tristian checked the time and nodded.

"Yeah. Here, there's like nearly a hundred on here," he said, handing over a pre-paid credit card. "Pin is two-two-four-nine," he said, Anna taking it.

"Be back in a couple of hours, hopefully," she said, checking outside. She smiled as she was handed a travel mug of coffee and a bottle of water from Tabby before she grabed her jacket from the back of the chair where she had laid it and left, the door slamming shut after her.

"I swear that she never broke the habit of letting the door slam," he snorted. Tabby chuckled and made herself a fresh cup of the coffee, adding a bit of sugar to it before going back to work putting groceries away.

They were checking on the wood situation inside and carrying a few loads of into the house to put in the enclosed living room in the log holders when Anna and Markus finally arrived. Whereas Tristian and Anna took after their mother with red hair, Markus and Karla had their father's black hair. Only Brian had Richard's sandy blond hair, while the siblings shared green eyes in various shades.

Markus put the giant bag of food in his arms down onto the table, looked at Tabby and Tristian, adjusted the hold on his suitcase and frowned. "I'm going to go claim my room and take a shower," he said before turning around and leaving the dining room. Tristian sighed as Anna watched Markus leave.

"Think he  _still_  blames me for answering a teacher truthfully about our situation?" he asked as he walked into the living room to put the last load down in the wood holder. Tabby sighed and did the same with her own load, Anna following them. She eyed the totes and buckets that sat in one corner of the room and shrugged her shoulders at them.

"It's not he blames you, Tristian, it's that he blames himself for not having the guts to do it," Tabby replied. "Marlin and Silvia sent him to therapy about a year after he was put in their care to deal with his issues. They knew he kept in the barest contact with you out of guilt and they wanted him to get help that they couldn't give him."

Tristian sighed and shookhis head. "Yeah but he could have told me. Hell, we could have talked whilebuzzed on bloody Mary's the last time that we were together," he complainedbefore deciding to let it for the moment. If his brother wanted to be an idiotabout it, he wasn't going to push him. Let him come to him in his own time. 


End file.
